Were Israel's Founding Groups Terrorists? Jimmy Dore Explains

Founding of Israel and Paramilitary Groups

• 💡 The state of Israel was founded by three main Zionist paramilitary groups: the Haganah, the Lehi, and the Irgun.
• 🎯 These groups were designated as terrorist organizations by both the UK and the United Nations.
• 🔑 The leaders of these paramilitary groups later became prime ministers of Israel.

Violent Incidents Before 1948

• 💥 In July 1938, the Irgun bombed two vegetable markets, killing 80 people.
• 🏨 The Irgun bombed the King David Hotel in July 1946, resulting in 91 deaths.
• ✉️ In 1947, the Lehi attempted to assassinate President Truman with letter bombs.
• 🏢 The Haganah bombed the Semiramis Hotel in January 1948, killing 25 people.
• 🏘️ In April 1948, the Irgun and Lehi attacked the village of Deir Yassin, massacring over 110 Palestinians.

Assassinations and Biological Warfare

• 🕊️ In September 1948, the Lehi assassinated Folke Bernadotte, a UN mediator, accusing him of a pro-Arab stance.
• 🧪 The Operation Cast Thy Bread was a secret biological warfare operation by the Haganah using typhoid bacteria to contaminate wells, causing illness among Palestinians.
• 🌍 In late 1948, there were orders to expand the biological warfare campaign into neighboring Arab states, but these were not carried out.

Legal and Political Context

• 📜 The founding of Israel is questioned as illegal, stemming from the Balfour Declaration, where the UK, illegally occupying Palestine, gave land it did not own.
• 🇺🇸 Some theories suggest the UK issued the Balfour Declaration in exchange for Zionist influence in getting the United States into World War II.
• ⚖️ The definition of terrorism is debated, with the argument that violence for political ends, as seen in many state actions, could also be considered terrorism.
• 🗣️ Some Israeli friends argue that these actions were self-defense, while others view current events in Gaza as ethnic cleansing and genocide.